Chapter 13: The Courts

Original Jurisdiction

The authority of a court to handle a case first, as in the Supreme Court’s authority ot initially hear disputes between 2 states. However, original jurisdiction for the Supreme Court is not exlusive; the Court may assign such a case to a lower court

Judiciary Act of 1789

The law in which Congress laid out the organization of the federal judiciary. The law refined and clarified federal court jurisdiction and set the original number of justices at six. It also created the office of the attorney general and established the lower federal courts.

District courts

Lower-level trial courts of the federal judicial system that handle most U.S. federal cases

Appellate jurisdiction

The authority of a court to hear appeals from lower courts and change or uphold the decision

Judicial review

The Supreme Court’s power to strike down a law or an executive branch action that it finds unconstitutional; Marbury v. Madison

Constitutional interpretation

The process of determining whether a piece of legislation or governmental action is supported by the Constitution

Statutory interpretation

The various methods and tests used by the courts for determining the meaning of a law and applying it to specific situations. Congress may overturn the courts’ interpretation by writing a new law; thus, it also engages in statutory interpretation

Plaintiff

The person or party who brings a case to court; the government in criminal cases

Defendant

The person or party against whom a case is brought.

Plea bargaining

Negotiating an agreement between a plaintiff and a defendant to settle a case before it goes to trial or the verdict is decided. In a civil case, this usually involves an admission of guilt and an agreement on monetary damages; in a criminal case, this often involves an admission of guilt in return for a reduced charge or sentence

Class-action lawsuit

A case brought by a group of individuals on behalf of themselves and others in the general public who are in similar circumstances

Common law

Law based on the precedent of previous court rulings rather than on legislation. It is used in all federal courts and 49 of the 50 state courts

Precedent

A legal norm established in court cases that is then applied to future cases dealing with the same legal questions

Standing

Legitimate justification for bringing a civil case to court

Jurisdiction

The sphere of a court’s legal authority to hear and decide cases

Appeals courts

The intermediate level of federal courts that hear appeals from district courts. More generally, an appeals court is any court with appellate jurisdiction

Senatorial courtesy

A norm in the nomination of district court judges in which the president consults with their party’s senators from the relevant state in choosing the nominee

Mootness

The ireelevance of a case by the time it is received by a federal court, causing the Supreme Court to decline to hear the case

Cert pool

A system initiated in the Supreme Court in the 1970s in which law clerks screen cases that come to the Supreme Court and recommend to the justices which cases should be heard

Solicitor general

A presidential appointee in the Justice Department who conducts all litigation on behalf of the federal government before the Supreme Court and supervises litigation in the federal appellate courts

Writ of Certiorari

The most common way for a case to reach the Supreme Court, in which at least four of the nine justices agree to hear a case that has reached them via an appeal from the losing party in a lower court’s ruling

Majority opinion

The core decision of the Court that must be agreed upon by at least five justices. The majority opinion presents the legal reasoning for the Court’s decision

Concurring opinion

Written by a justice who agrees with the outcome of the case but not with part of the legal reasoning. Concurring opinions may be joined by other justices. A justice may sign on to the majority opinion and write a separate concurring opinion

Plurality opinion

Occurs when a majority cannot agree on the legal reasoning in a case. The plurality opinion is the one that has the most agreement (usually three or four justices). Because of the fractured nature of these opinions, they typically are not viewed as having as much clout as majority opinions

Dissent

Submitted by a justice who disagrees with the outcome of the case. Other justices can sign on to a dissent or write their own, so there can be as many as four dissents. Justices can also sign on to part of a dissent but not the entire opinion

Per curiam opinion

An unsigned opinion of the Court or a decision written by the entire Court. However, this is not the same as a unanimous decision that is signed by the entire Court. Per curiam opinions are usually very short opinions on noncontroversial issues, but not always. For example, Bush v. Gore, which decided the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, was a per curiam opinion. Per curiam decisions may also have dissents; “by the court”

Amicus curiae

Latin for “friend of the court,” referring to an interested group or person who shares relevant information about a case to help the Court reach a decision

Oral arguments

Spoken presentations made in person by the lawyers of each party to a judge or an appellate court outlining the legal reasons their side should prevail

Shadow docket

The alternative path to the Supreme Court that involves emergency appeals of lower-court decisions. The cases do not involve a full briefing and oral arguments and often are unsigned opinions

Strict construction

A way of interpreting the Constitution based on its language alone

Living Constitution

A way of interpreting the Constitution that takes into account evolving national attitudes and circumstances rather than the text alone

Judicial restraint

The idea that the Supreme Court should defer to the democratically elected executive and legislative branches of government rather than contradicting existing laws.

Judicial activism

The idea that the Supreme Court should assert its interpretation of the law even if it overrules the elected executive and legislative branches of government